Ok, so that is an easy one. Black's Law Dictionary "A permission, accorded by a competent authority, conferring the right to do some act which without such authorization would be illegal, or would be a trespass or a tort." Yes, I sort of cheated, since no license is granted for something already lawful, or for something already a right.
So how then did there come to be a license to marry, why, and what does it mean to a young man or woman today?
The first is easy, the how: In the 1800s, there was widespread belief in the South, both among whites and blacks (but mostly whites), that there was some value to "racial" purity. Now there is the first fallacy: it is the human "race", not the black "race", the white "race", the Asian "race", etc., from biology class in high school. Color, lips, or eyebrows do not make us a different race. That said, if you were white and wanted to marry a black, you needed a license in some states. Otherwise is was not "legal".
Under common law, it was of course lawful, but by statute is was forbidden in some places. I intend to discuss the difference between Lawful and legal in a later post, but for now, suffice it to say that English common law derives from the translation of the Bible, also known as the Word of God, to English. Statute is anything wise or foolish that any form of government writes on paper as an order to be followed. Clearly not all statute is law, and in the USA we are directed to ignore statutes that are contrary to the common law.
So what does that have to do with marriage? Some fools, mostly white, thought they knew better than God who should marry, and chose to be tyrants. Mostly to prevent slaves from marriage.
So what about the 14th Amendment to the Constitution? Did it not free the slaves?
Well, no. It created a whole new type of slavery, slaves with "civil" rights. Rights granted by government, and therefore can be taken away by government. Please see my post on the four Organic Laws. To be more clear, the Bible and the Organic Laws recognize that mankind has certain duties, such as self preservation, love, justice, telling the truth, eating, and worship. Ergo, we must have corresponding rights so we can perform those duties.
You want rights that are God given (natural), which by their nature are UN-alienable (cannot be taken away or even changed in any way). You have those rights. Why settle for "civil" rights, which are at the pleasure of the government by statute?
So, the act of marriage without a license is lawful (according to the underlying law, the common law), but the act of marriage with a license is legal (by statute).
Think of it this way. When you take your money to the county courthouse for a license to marry, you apply (definition of apply is to beg, like a slave) for the government to take away your natural right to marriage, and further, after you reject your right, you pay them to grant you the "civil" right to marriage. That replaces God as the third member of the marriage with the government as the third party.
The why: Since the "state" is now the supervising party to the marriage, it deems itself to have the right to or ownership of any produce of that marriage. What kind of produce? Mainly the children produced in the marriage. Did you ever wonder how the state believed it was justified in interfering in so many families? So now you know the rest of the story.
What does this mean to you and yours: If, like me, you believe you are a competent adult, and that you know better than the state how to raise your child, you might want to avoid begging (applying) for permission to do something illegal. Instead, I suggest you do make the agreement (marriage) in writing, but not under the control of the government. Be responsible for yourself, before your Creator only.
As a side note, my wife and I married using a certificate we bought in a religious book store. We filled it out with an adult witness. She then took it to the social security administration and used it to change her last name to mine on her Social Security Card, which in turn she used to change the name on her license to practice law (a story for another post). We have not had any issues.
Good article
Things can't be simple. Got to do stuff the hard way